Getting the Family back from Wonderland
by MrandMrsTemple
Summary: Nick Temple has never known his father. But then one day, he sees an advert on TV and flies to the USA to get his dad back. Only when he arrives, his father remembers niether him nor Abby. So Nick must set off to Wonderland to get his family back together
1. Dad?

**Ok, just to let all you readers know, I have never watched Syfy's Alice, and all Alice related stuff I have picked up is from Wikipedia.**

* * *

Abby sat at the kitchen table in the flat. Jack was snoring on the sofa and Rex was dozing with Sid and Nancy under the table.

It had been nine years now since Connor had disappeared. They had been out for a walk in the park with their then infant son, Nick. Suddenly they had spotted a glimer amongst some nearby trees. Naturally their first thought had been that it was an anomaly, actually it had turned out to be some sort of mirror. Abby had felt nervous around it, but Connor on the other hand had been curious about it and had gotten very close to it. Too close. Abby remembered the pale hand reaching out and grabbing Connor by the arm. He had struggled but then another arm had reached through the mirror and squirted some strange liquid in his face. Instantly he had fallen still. Abby rushed to get to him only to be confronted by a hideous creture with a humanoid body and a rabbit's head. Before she had had time to react the thing had dragged Connor through and the mirror had disappeared.

Abby had been devastated but there was nothing any of the anomaly team could do, seeing as this thing had been a mirror not an anomaly. So she had had no choice but to raise her son on her own. As she looked down at her watch, she realised it would soon be time to pick him up from school. She rose from the table and went over to Jack, brushing his forehead softly. Her brother grunted awake.

"Wh-wha?"

"I'm going to pick up Nick from school now, Jack" said Abby. "You'll be alright while I'm gone, won't you?"

"Yeah, yeah" mumbled Jack sleepily. Abby picked up her keys and headed for the car.

* * *

Nick Temple walked through the door of his flat after his mother. People often said that he shared many characteristics of both his parents. He had a somewhat shorter version of Connor's jet black hair and Abby's round boyish face. He was an excellent kick boxer, as the countless trophies in his bedroom proved, and he was also a great intellectual. Every single test he had ever taken at school had been passed with flying colours. THe one thing he hadn't inherited form either of his parents however was his eyes. They were niether chocolate brown like Connor's or sea green like Abby's. Instead, his eyes were a bright, baby blue.

But Nick was not a happy child. He had only been a year old when his father had disappeared, but Abby had often talked about how much Connor Temple had loved them and she him. She talked about how he was always the kindest man to her and how much she missed him. Nick hated to see his mother so upset as she was, and even more upset about the circumstances of his father's disappearance. Connor Temple had not been killed in a car crash or a fire, instead he had been snatched by some stange rabbit like creature and taken through a mirror (Abby had told him what happened). Nick didn't entirely believe the story but he did know that whoever had done this had caused an incredible amount of grief to both him and his mother. And yet there seemed to be no way of tracking his father. Surely there could be no greater injustice than this?

While Abby went upstairs to her room, Nick went to sit down on the sofa. With some displeasure he saw that his Uncle Jack was lying spread eagled out on hit, snoring in a disgusting manner. Nick shook his uncle awake.

"Do you mind going to make disgusting noises in your sleep elsewhere, Uncle Jack? I'd like to have the right to sit down on my own sofa please." Jack sulkily rose to his feet.

"You're an old man in a ten year old's body, Nick" he said.

"And you are a four year old in a thirty year old's body" retorted Nick as he reached for the control. As Jack went into the kitchen, Nick switched the telly on. What he saw took him completely by surprise. There on the screen, wearing a brown suit and a top hat was his dad. Connor Temple.

"Hey folks" he said in the TV. "Tired of the usual fanta and coke? Try Hatter's brand new Emotion Elixir. Fills you with all the positive emotions one can ever feel and makes you feel like no other soft drink has ever done so!" At this point a picture of a frothing drink bottle appeared acompanied by a tacky theme tune.

For a moment, Nick sat there, completely shocked. Then he got up and took out his dad's old laptop. As he waited for it to load, a myriad of thoughts flowed through his brain. His father was alive, and doing pretty well for himself by the looks of things. Maybe he lived not too far from here. When the computer was fully loaded, Nick go the internet up and typed in the words 'Hatter's Emotion Elixir'. He clicked on the official website.

According to the site, the elixir was a soft drink which had its origins in America but was now being sold in the UK. Its creator, David Hatter, worked from a plant in New York. Nick sat back in his chair. If this man was the owner of the drink company his dad now worked for, perhaps he could tell him where he was. Nick didn't have to think twice, he was going to New York tonight! Quickly, he looked back at the site and took down the address of the plant.

* * *

That night, Nick made ready to leave. All his life he had been saving up his pocket money for something big, he had never expected it to be a solo trip to New York but he definitely had enough. He had packed all the things he thought he would need: a map of New York, his mobile phone, some books to read if he got bored.

As he headed for the door of his flat, Nick stopped in his tracks. He was about to fly halfway around the world by himself armed with only a few basic necessities to find his father. That was a pretty big task for a ten year old boy. But then he remembered the years of misery Abby had gone through living without her husband. Well not anymore, Nick was going to solve that. He took a sheet of notepaper and wrote a short note.

_Dear Mum,_

_By the time you read this, I will probably be on a plane somewhere above the _Atlantic_ Ocean. I have reason to think that Dad is living in America, or at least has contacts there who can help me find him._

_Please don't be too worried about me. I'm pretty sure I will be fine and I promise I will bring Dad back home._

_Love you._

_from,_

_Nick_

He taped the letter to the fridge where he knew Abby would find it. Then he stepped out of the flat, got on his bicycle and made for Heathrow airport.


	2. Connor the Hatter

Nick sat on a bench outside JFK airport. Miraculously the people at Heathrow had believed Abby's note which he had forged to let him fly alone. And so had the people here. Now the big problem was how to get to David Hatter's plant. Nick had hoped it to be reasonably close to the airport, seeing as they would probably be shipping Emotion Elixir to other countries. In reality however it was about eight miles away. And what's more, Nick was at another major flaw. Back in London he had packed pretty much everything he thought he would need for the trip, except for US dollars. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid, now he was stranded miles away from his intended destination with no way of getting there besides walking, which in a city known for its muggers and pedophiles he did not fancy.

There was only one thing to do. Nick slipped the map into his bag and tried to look as innocent as he possibly could. Soon enough, a reasonably well off looking woman passed by.

"Excuse me ma'am" said Nick in the best American accent he could do. The woman stopped and looked at him.

"Why hello, can I help you little boy?"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be getting to school around about 8:00. But I missed the bus and I'm thinking maybe I should take a taxi, only I don't have any money."

"I see" said the woman. "Where is your school?"

"About eight miles away."

The woman fished around in her purse for a moment, before pulling out a wad of US dollar notes, the total of which rounded up to about fifty.

"There you go, honey. That should be enough to get you to school."

"Thanks" said Nick as he dashed off to get a taxi.

* * *

Nick made his way along the crowded pavement in the direction of the plant.

He couldn't believe his bad luck. He had been so close to the plant, but when they had got to the gate, the guard had stopped them and told them that only authorised personell could get in. When Nick had explained his intent to see David Hatter, the guard had told him the boss was out and that even if he wasn't, he wouldn't waste his time seeing a ten year old kid. So Nick had been forced to make do with being dropped off about half a mile away from the plant and had paid forty dollars to the taxi driver. For the rest of the day he had sat in a nearby cafe where he had spent about five dollars on a hamburger.

Now it was around about eight o clock at night. Nick didn't know how long people at the plant worked for, but he was fairly sure that David Hatter would be in his office right now, dealing with a few extra bits and pieces from the day. Nick intended to sneak into the plant and catch him in his office. Then he would ask or, if needs be, demand to know if Hatter knew anything about his dad.

Suddenly right in front of him a door opened and a completely drunk man came stumbling out into the pavement, clutching an empty bottle in his hand. Nick dashed into a nearby alleyway to avoid him and stayed there until he was gone. Cautiously, Nick took a look at the place the man had just come from. It was a place called the Red Queen Bar. Through the window, Nick could see that it was full of scantily clad women and drunk men like the one he had just seen. He was just about to make himself scarce when suddenly something caught his eye. He had seen that brown suit and top hat only yesterday on the telly in England. Surely it couldn't be...but it was. It was Connor Temple standing at the bar sipping a can of beer. Nick was just about to burst in and run up to him when suddenly, a young woman with long brown hair came up to his dad and started nuzzling up to his chest. She looked up at him and Nick could see that she was clearly intending to snog him.

How dare she! Without a second thought, Nick dashed into the bar, grabbed the first glass of drink that came into his hand and hurled it straight into the young woman's face. She gasped in shock and stepped back amidst equally shocked gasps and exclamations. Parting her sodden hair, the woman looked around for who had thrown the drink in her face. Looking down, she saw Nick.

"What? Who the hell are you?" she snapped.

"I'm the one who's gonna do a lot worse than chuck beer in your face if you don't step away from him" said Nick in his most threatening voice. "Who do you even think you are moving in on Connor Temple like that, you bimbo!"

"I think I just happen to be his girlfriend" said the girl. "And his name's not Connor Temple, kid."

"Oh yes it is" said Nick. "And he's not your boyfriend, he's my dad!"

The young woman and the rest of the bar gasped. The woman turned to the man next to her.

"David, is this true? Is this kid your son?" The man shrugged.

"David?" said Nick quizzically.

"Yeah" said the man in question. "David Hatter, and this here is my girlfriend. Alice Hamilton."

Nick dropped the glass and stood there in complete shock. He barely noticed the bartender, a stocky black man, coming up to him.

"Look kid, this is an eighteen and above bar. You wanna go bond with daddy, go do it outside."

"It's ok, James" said Hatter. "I'll take it from here."

He took Nick by the hand and led him out of the bar admist the angry faces glaring at the kid who had completely ruined their evening. As they stepped out on to the pavement, Hatter crouched down and faced Nick.

"OK little mate, I don't know why you think I'm your dad. As far as I can tell I don't have any kids, but since you're only young I'm gonna let you off throwing beer in my girlfriend's face."

"But, but..."

"No buts." said Hatter kindly but firmly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar note.

"Here, this should probably get you home." And with that he went back into the bar to rejoin Alice. Nick meanwhile stood there in complete shock and silence, unable to believe what had just happened.


	3. The Cat

Nick crouched in an alleyway just a couple of blocks away from the Red Queen Bar. He was sobbing with his head in his hands. He could not believe it. He had come all this way, so certain that he might find his father, and now it turned out he had been chasing someone who just looked and talked like Abby had said Connor had done. Now here he was thousands of miles from home with only twenty five US dollars and no way of returning home. He certainly didn't have enough money to make it on the streets for more an a day at the very least. He wouldn't be surprised if he wound up in prison, having been forced into a life of crime. And the worst of it was it was all for nothing. His mum would never be happy, espescially now that she had lost both her son and her husband.

"That didn't quite go to plan, did it?" came a voice from the shadows. Nick sat up and looked around for the speaker, instead he saw only a white crescent floating in mid air, with a strange pattern on it that looked like...teeth. Above the crescent of teeth, two bright yellow eyes blinked into existence, followed by a round face, two pointy ears, a sleek, tan body and a bottle brush tail. Eventually, Nick found himself staring at a longhaired cat, quite ordinary looking except for one thing: it was grinning at him.

"Wha...what?" he stammered.

"Don't be alarmed" said the cat silkily. "I've known you for a long time. I've been watching over you. I saw what you did just now."

"But..but how could you" said Nick. 'You're the Cheshire Cat, you're a fictional character, you're not real."

"Oh really?" said the Cheshire Cat. "Well if I'm not real, then how is it I know of how your father disappeared? And how is it that I know your name, Nicholas Temple?"

Nick was completely lost for words at this. The Cat grinned a little wider.

"Perhaps it's time I did some explaining" he said. Instantly his body vanished into thin air, his head floated over to Nick's backpack.

"Take out the books" he said. "I'd do it myself but for a certain lack of opposable thumbs."

'And a lack of a body' thought Nick as he did as he was told. He reached into the backpack and took out the books he had packed. The Cat gestured towards an old one, Alice in Wonderland. Nick opened up the book and placed it on the ground. The Cat's body reappeared and he flicked through the pages with his paws, until he came to a picture of the Mad Hatter's tea party.

"In my world, 160 years have passed since this story and these characters were recorded" he said. "As you can probably imagine, several noticeable changes have occured since then. For one thing, he is long dead." He pointed at the Mad Hatter.

"What does this have to do with my dad?" asked Nick. The Cat flicked forward a few pages and pointed at a picture of the Queen of Hearts.

"Her successor had a casino built in Wonderland. Alas for her not many of its inhabitants are big on gambling, so she decided she needed to catch oysters to do it instead."

"Oysters?"

"That's the word people in my world use to refer to the ones in yours" the Cat explained. "The queen knew they would not come to Wonderland willingly, so she created a special elixir that would help drug them. Once they started gambling in her casino, their emotions were drained for use as drugs by the queen and all those who supported her cause. She needed someone to look after these emotions. And she knew of how well the Mad Hatter had been at storing liqours such as that. But as I explained to you, he was dead. So she needed to find a replacement, someone from this world."

"My dad" said Nick.

"Yes" said the Cat. "The queen had a special looking glass that linked my world to yours. She sent one of her agents to go through it and catch the first oyster he found, which happened to be your father."

"So what happened to my dad after the queen took him to Wonderland?"

"Oh various things" said the Cat. "They constantly drugged him with elixir, drained all memories of you and your mother from his mind. And they replaced them with the idea that he was the Mad Hatter."

"Didn't anyone try to stop it?" asked Nick.

"In my world, no. You must understand that the queen was a cruel tyrant and executed any who opposed her wishes. In your world your mother did all she could to find your father, but alas it was to no avail. The queen made very sure that nobody would ever be able to trace your father's disappearance to Wonderland."

"How do you know all of this?" asked Nick. The Cat's body once again disappeared.

"Those with evaporating powers such as mine are capable of travelling between the worlds. I saw what happened to your father, and I spent many years travelling between my world and yours, keeping watch on both him and his family, in the hopes that one day I would discover something that would help them be reunited"

"Why didn't you tell my mum about this?" asked Nick.

"She wouldn't have believed it, Nick" replied the Cat. "Your mother has seen many strange things in her life, but do you really think she would believe the word of a talking, disappearing cat?"

"So if my dad spent nine years living in Wonderland, how come he's here now in my world?" asked Nick.

"Let's just say that a second Alice paid a visit to Wonderland and brought him back" said the Cat. "She has brought him back to his real world, Nick. Now you must help him complete his journey and bring him home to your mother."

"But how?" said Nick. "He didn't even know who I was, he thinks his name is David Hatter." Tears welled in his eyes as he remembered what had happened at the Red Queen.

"There is a way to change that, Nicholas" said the Cat, grinning widely. "There is a potion which will help to restore your father's memory. You and I must travel to Wonderland to obtain it, only then will your father remember you and be able to return home. What do you say, will you come with me?"

Nick was silent for a moment. This was even bigger than travelling to New York on his own. He was about to trust the word of a cat which up till now he had thought to be fictional, and travel to a place that was thought to exist only in a storybook to obtain a magical potion. This was not just big, this was madness. But then he remembered why he had come to New York in the first place, he remembered what he had promised Abby. He stood up and looked down at the Cat.

"Yes, I'll come." The Cat grinned from ear to ear.

"Excellent, we shall leave immediately!"


	4. Going to Wonderland

The Cat led Nick through the dark alleyways of New York, where the musky smell of dustbins was everywhere and there was the all too common bump coming from the bins that possibly betrayed the location of a rat, or a mugger.

"I sense you are nervous, Nicholas" said the Cat without looking at Nick.

"Yes, just a bit" said Nick, in a voice trembling with fright.

"Don't worry, we shall arrive at our destination soon" said the Cat. Nick glanced nervously around him. To take his mind off feeling scared he decided to turn to conversation to where they were going.

"What are we looking for exactly?" he asked. "My mum told me that my dad disappeared through the looking glass."

"True" said the Cat. "But surely you know there's more than one way of getting to Wonderland" he added conspiratorially. Soon he sat down next to a manhole cover at the end of an alley. He unsheated a long hooked claw and ran it gently in a circle around the circumference of the hole. Then he sheathed his claw and with the same paw, gently pressed down on the manhole cover. It gave way instantly and tumbled down the hole. The Cat turned to Nick.

"After you, Nicholas Temple."

"Down there?" said Nick disbelievingly. "We're going to Wonderland down a manhole? I thought it was a rabbit warren!"

"It could be" said the Cat. "But seeing as there is a considerable shortage of those here in New York, I'd say this is the next best thing." And he disappeared into thin air. Nick looked down the manhole, it was very dark and from the looks of things, extremely deep.

"How far down is it?" he asked.

"Why don't you find out for yourself?" said the Cat's voice in his ear. Nick felt something push him forwards, before he could stop himself he toppled forward and fell screaming down the hole.

* * *

When Nick woke, the first thing he saw was a light. A light at the end of a long, dark tunnel, and for a moment he thought maybe he had been killed in the fall. But then the Cat's grinning face materialised in front of him.

"Wakey wakey" he purred.

"Good morning to you too" said Nick. "You didn't have to push me down you know, I would have climbed down."

"Too slow" said the Cat. "Although I suppose you wouldn't have become unconscious if you'd done so. Anyway, we're almost there now."

"Almost?"

"Why yes, don't you remember what you must do to get to Wonderland from here?"

Nick rose to his feet to find himself in a small, dimly lit room, bare except for a single table and a tiny door about the size of a cat-flap. The Cat's head floated over to it and the rest of his body appeared.

"There's a certain size difference between you and this door. Alas it is the only way to get to Wonderland. I think you know what must be done."

Nick reached into his backpack and took out Alice in Wonderland. He flipped to the chapter about Alice's time down here and then he remembered. To get through that door, one had to shrink. And the only way to do that was by a special bottle of drink. Nick looked to the table. Sure enough there was a tiny bottle on it with the words 'Drink Me' on it.

"Don't forget the key" the Cat reminded him. As he spoke, a tiny key appeared right next to the bottle. Nick reached for it and placed it on the floor next to him. Then he picked up the bottle and, taking a deep breath, doused the contents in one gulp. It tasted like milk.

As soon as he swallowed the liquid, Nick saw the top of the table shooting up into the air above his head. But of course that wasn't what was happening, in reality Nick was growing smaller. Soon he was about the size of a mouse compared to the Cat, clothes and all. He went over to the key. In his hand it had been the size of a toothpick, now it was more like a log. Grunting with effort, Nick picked it up and dragged it over to the door. Carefully he slid it into the lock and turned it. There came a clicking sound. The Cat grinned wider and gently pushed the door open with his paw. Nick went through it.

He found himself in a very different place. Huge ferns and flowers towered above him like trees, and the real trees looked more like the size of skyscrapers. All around him were rocks the size of cars. Birdsong filled the air.

"This is it, Nick" said the Cat as he stepped through the door.

"Welcome to Wonderland!"


	5. A Perilous Journey Ahead

"This is Wonderland?" said Nick.

"Yes" said the Cat. "And now we are one step closer to getting your father back. But before we go any further, I think a bit of growing up is needed on your part."

He stalked off into some nearby bushes and returned moments later carrying something in his mouth, which he dropped at his feet before Nick.

"A mushroom?" said Nick. The thing had a pale brown, smooth surface and looked a lot like the mushrooms Nick had seen in the shops back home in England. But you could never be too careful with mushrooms.

"Are you sure this is safe to eat?"

"Not in the slightest" replied the Cat. "Mycology is not my strong point. However I do know that poisonous or not, mushrooms here in Wonderland are extremely useful for making one grow. And unless you do grow then getting the potion will be a lot more difficult than it needs to be." He saw that Nick was still very uncertain, he gave him a reassuring grin. "Don't worry, if it is poisonous I know a great many herbs that will cure you instantly."

Nick did nothing for a moment, pondering on whether or not to heed the Cheshire Cat's advice and to eat the mushroom. Finally he decided that the Cat had a point and took the smallest bite of mushroom that he could. The result was instantaneous. Nick shot up like a rocket, soon he was as tall as a kitchen table leg. But that was still not his true size.

"A little more is required, I think" said the Cat. Nick picked up the mushroom and took another bite, soon he had returned to this true size. The Cat grinned a little wider.

"Well that's one problem solved, the other is just beginning."

"What do you mean?" asked Nick.

"The road from here to the queen's casino is a perilous one" explained the Cat. "This forest may look harmless enough and to those who know it well it is, but you are a stranger to this place and therefore I think you are ignorant of the fact that it is inhabited by some very fierce creatures. Now your family has something of a history of dealing with fierce creatures and surviving, and while you may have inherited those abilities Nick, I doubt that even you would stand much of a chance against a jabberwock on the hunt."

"What do you mean fierce creatures when you talk about my family" asked Nick. The Cat ignored this question and continued with his speech.

"Even if you survive the forest, there is still the Wonderland city to go through. Many of its inhabitants are not tolerant of oysters and I doubt it will take them long to discover your identity as one." He paused for a few seconds before going on. "The point is that we require a form of transportation."

"Transportation? But we're in the middle of a forest!" cried Nick. "This is as far away from transportation as we could possibly be! How on earth are we going to find any out here?"

At that moment a hgh pitched shriek sounded. Nick looked up to see a bizarre creature circling above them. It had many of the features of a dark brown eagle, with its huge wings, hooked beak and (most disconcerting of all), its long, sharp talons. But it also looked very different from any kind of eagle Nick had ever seen. While eagles in his world had two legs, this one had four, two belonging to an eagle and two to a lion. As well as that it sported an extraordinarily long, tuft ended tail like a lion's. Suddenly it gave another shriek and dived towards Nick and the Cat.

It had seen them.

Nick instantly turned and ran, the Cat's head floated alongside him.

"Follow me!" he shouted, trying to make himself heard over the creature's ear piercing shrieks. He floated over to a fallen tree, Nick swerved in that direction just in time to avoid the creature's slashing talons. He heard a dull thump and the beating of wings stopped and was replaced by the sound of running footsteps. It had landed and was now chasing him. Nick looked over his shoulder to see the creature's beak just inches away from his face. He turned and dived under the tree trunk where the cat was waiting. He landed flat on his face in a pile of wet leaves and mud, he heard the creature's shrieks and the snapping of its beak as it tried to force its way under. But as Nick saw when he righted himself, it was too big to get in.

Eventually the creature backed off and launched itself into the air. Nick watched in awe as it flapped out over the tree tops into the distance. He turned to see the Cat grinning wider than ever before.

"We have our transportation" he said.

"That thing!" cried Nick. "Are you mad?"

"Of course I am" said the Cat. "This is Wonderland, and that thing as you call it, is a gryphon. Very territorial beasts."

"You don't say"

"Aye, very territorial and among the most difficult of creatures to tame. There are few who have succeeded."

"If they're so difficult to tame then why are you suggesting we try and ride it?" inquired Nick. "I'm sure he only wants to defend his territory but I don't really want to take the chance of being killed by him. I can't get my dad back if I'm dead!"

"And nor shall you" said the Cat. "Gryphons are very difficult to tame and as we have just seen they can be very dangerous." He grinned a little wider. "But you are your parent's son Nick, and with my help you can and you shall be able to tame that gryphon, and we shall ride him to the casino and we shall get the potion and revive your father's memory."

"And how do we tame the gryphon in the first place?"

"Gryphons are difficult to tame mainly because there are few ways of doing so. However there is one which with me at your side is the easiest one of all. There is one thing that every gryphon loves and those who can make it are held in the utmost respect by them."

"What is it?" asked Nick.

"Gryphons" said the Cat, "are extremely fond of a Lobster Quadrille."


	6. Lobster Quadrille

"Lobster Quadrille?" said Nick. He took out Alice in Wonderland and turned to the chapter of the same name. "Isn't that a dance?"

"In some contexts, yes" said the Cat. "But is is also used to refer to a dish which is very easy to make and exceedingly delicious."

"If it's so easy to make then how come so few people have tamed gryphons?"

"Making the quadrille is easy, obtaining the means to do so is not" the Cat explained. "Gryphons do love their lobster quadrille but they are very choosy about how it tastes. It needs to be cooked in the shell of a Tum-Tum nut or it shall not have a required taste. Tum-Tum nuts grow very high up on very rare Tum-Tum trees and do not fall easily. Therefore they are by no means easy to collect." His grin widened even further. "But not if you have levitating powers such as mine."

"So you're going to collect this nut."

"Absolutely" the Cat replied. "You meanwhile need to collect the ingredients."

"What do I need to make this?"

"Lobster Quadrille requires the juice of a cream mushroom, a sprig of rosemary, a pinch of rock salt and the flesh of one Wonderland Yabbie. I shall fetch the mushroom for you, but while I am collecting the nut, you must fetch the other ingredients."

The Cat's head floated out from under the tree trunk and disappeared into the bushes. He returned shortly afterwards carrying another mushroom in his mouth. This one however differed in appearance signifcantly from the one Nick had used to get back to his normal size. For one thing it was a light, creamy colour, as its name suggested. For another it had a very porous texture, so it looked more like a mushroom shaped loofah. The Cat dropped it into Nick's hand.

"Put that in a safe place somewhere. I'd suggest you keep it with the other mushroom you already have."

Nick looked down, he was still clutching the half eaten mushroom that had restored his size. He slipped it and the other mushroom into his coat pocket.

"And how do I find the other ingredients?"

"You are in Wonderland, Nicholas. Wonderland shall provide for you. I for one suggest you start at the nearest stream, we shall meet back here." And with that he vanished into thin air. Nick crawled out from under the tree trunk and looked around. In the distance to his left he heard the faint trickle of water, following that sound he came to a shallow stream. It was filled with many small and odd looking fish. Some had enormous, bulging eyes, some tails that seemed far too big in proportion to their bodies, and some with comically fat lips. There was no sign of anything that looked like a yabbie however.

For now, Nick decided to look for some rock salt. Chemistry lessons at school had taught him that rock salt was usually found near the sea and was the remains of salt water that had splashed on to the rocks. Nick did not think that there was any salt water nearby, but given all the strangeness he had already seen in Wonderland, he had a feeling he would find some form on rock salt. He walked along the edge of the stream until he found some pebble on the side, half in and half out of the water. Chances were that if there was to be any salt to be found in this stream it would probably be on them. He bent down and picked up a stone that fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. Gently, he ran his fingers along it to see if there was anything like salt on them. A few brown granules fell to the ground but Nick could tell it was just soil. This rock certainly didn't have salt in it, nor for that matter did the second, third, fourth or fifth one he tried.

After trying and failing to extract salt from his sixth rock, Nick gave up. This was ridiculous, he would never find salt near a stream, he needed to be near the sea to do that and as far as he could tell they were nowhere near it. He looked at the stone in his hand, the sixth one to fail him. His hand trembled furiously, he hated the stone, he hated all stones. He looked around for something to throw it at, he spotted a willow tree on the opposite bank. Out of anger and frustration he hurled the stone at it with all his might, even though he knew it would simply bounce off again.

But it didn't. As soon as it hit the tree the stone shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. White granules were spilling down the bank into the river. Nick watched them float away, then he picked up two more stones and rubbed them together. Sure enough, more whiteness began to spill from the space between them. Nick seperated the stones, throwing one of them down on the ground. The other he saw was coated with more of the white granules where he had rubbed it. Barely daring to believe it, Nick brushed the stone and placed his finger to his mouth, it was salt! Nick whooped for joy and placed the stone in his trouser pocket.

As he did so he heard the flapping of wings and for a brief, terrifying moment he thought the gryphon had returned. Actually it turned out to be a heron, which alighted on the bank next to the willow tree. It stood there motionless, scanning the water for prey. Then suddenly it thrust its scissor like beak forward and fished around in the river. Suddenly it withdrew its beak, squawking in pain. Latched on to its top jaw with wicked looking pincers was something which closely resembled a scarlet lobster, and Nick had no doubt that this was the yabbie he had been looking for. The heron flung itself all over the bank, desperately trying to dislodge the yabbie. Finally it suceeded and sent its tormentor flying across the river, it landed flat on its back on the opposite bank, just by Nick's foot. The heron didn't stay long after that.

Nick meanwhile watched the yabbie as it righted itself and made for the water. It did indeed have lethal looking claws, which could probably take off a finger. Nick looked around for something he could use to spear the yabbie, if he had time he would fashion his own spear but as it was, the yabbie had almost reached the water now. Alas Nick found no sharp sticks. Then he remembered the stone in his pocket. He reached down on another, larger one and held it above the yabbie, just as it began to enter the water, he dropped it.

* * *

Carrying the squashed remains of the yabbie, Nick returned to the fallen tree. The Cat had not yet returned. Nick took off his coat and laid the yabbie and the rock on it, now he needed to find some rosemary. Fortunately he knew what that looked like, when he was eight he had been on a camping trip with one of his mum's friends, Captain Becker. He had wandered off a little way and was randomly pulling at small plants when he had found one which had looked very appealing. Becker had identified it as rosemary and it had made their cup-o-soup taste much nicer than it would have done otherwise. Knowing what it looked like meant that it was only the work of a few minutes of searching before Nick found a sprig of rosemary growing at the foot of a nearby pine tree.

"Excellent" came the Cat's voice. Nick turned and saw him sitting near the other ingredients, next to him was a brown, bowl like thing that Nick assumed was the shell. He went over to the Cat with the rosemary in his hands.

"Now what?"

"Now we make the quadrille" said the Cat. "I assume you know how to make a fire." Sure enough, five minutes later, Nick had a small campfire burning, another skill he had learned from Becker. The Cat pushed the shell into the flames.

"Pick the leaves off the rosemary while I place the yabbie in the shell." Nick did as he was told and afterwards brushed some rock salt into the shell on top of the yabbie and the rosemary.

"Now we will need the mushroom" said the Cat. Nick reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the cream mushroom. He then reached into his backpack and took out a plastic knife he had salvaged from the in-flight meal on the way to New York.

"That won't be necessary" said the Cat. "Just give it a squeeze." Cautiously, Nick held out the mushroom over the shell and squeezed gently. A thin jet of white liquid shot out the bottom and landed in the shell, it started to bubble and boil instantly. Nick watched it in fascination.

"We'll need more juice than that" said the Cat, bringing Nick out of his trance. He nodded understandingly and squeezed the mushroom tighter until on a few drops of liquid were left. By this time the shell was half full with mushroom juice and frothing a lot.

"Now we must mix it" said the Cat. Nick took out a plastic airline spoon and stirred the mixture, faster and faster according to the Cat's instructions, until eventually his wrist felt like it would fall off from all this stirring. The Cat bent down and sniffed the quadrille.

"Would you care to taste it?" Nick lifted the spoon out of the shell, scooping up some of the mixture as he did so. Slowly be brought it to his mouth. As soon as it went in he was filled with wonder. The mixutre tasted like ham, spaghetti bolognase, roast chicken, tomato soup, and just about everything else Nick liked to eat. He felt the vibes zip through his body like electrical impulses, his mind was filled with endless possibilities and as he closed his eyes, he saw coloured lights dance around the inside of his eyelids. At last he swallowed and opened his eyes.

"That was...incredible!" he gasped. The Cat grinned.

"It is ready."


	7. Transportation

Nick crouched nervously on the edge of the clearing. Next to him the Cat floated in mid-air, cross legged in the style of a buddhist statue, balancing the bowl of quadrille on his head.

In the clearing was a cave, dozing half in and half out of it was the gryphon. Nick barely dared to breathe as he watched the steady rising and falling of the gryphon's body, its lethal looking beak and talons glinted in the late afternoon sunlight. He turned to the Cat.

"I'm not sure this is safe."

"Neither are many things we do in our everyday lives" said the Cat. "But yet we still do them because they are necessary. You cross the road from time to time even though that is how many people in your world are killed, but you still do it because you have to. Likewise you must bring this quadrille to the gryphon if you are to gain his trust and ride him to the casino. There is no way around it."

Nick sighed as he realised the Cat was right. In the abscence of any other form of transport, that gryphon was the only way past the dangers the Cat had talked about. Taking care not to spill anything, Nick lifted the quadrille off the Cat's head and tiptoed slowly into the clearing.

"Do not rush yourself, take all the time you need." whispered the Cat. Trying as hard as he could to ignore the panic that was threatening to take control of him, Nick went as close to the sleeping gryphon as he dared. Then he placed the quadrille in front of it. Afterwards he backed quickly away from it. Too quickly, a dry twig snapped beneath Nick's shoe, the gryphon's eyes were open in an instant. It rose to its feet and screeched at Nick, furious that this insignificant oyster had dared come so close to its cave. It raised itss wings menacingly and was just about to charge when it noticed the lobster quadrille.

Instantly the gryphon's mood changed. It lowered its wings and clamly went up to the quadrille and stared at it. For a few moments it was motionless.

"Give him time" said the Cat to Nick, now crouching in the bushes again. "Let him decide when to eat it."

After at least ten minutes, the gryphon dipped its beak into the shell and sucked. The level of the mushroom juice began to lower instantly, the gryphon raised its head for a moment, then it reached into the shell and pulled out a piece of yabbie flesh, throwing it to the back of its throat with one neat flick of its beak. It repeated this process several times in between sucking up the mushroom juice, but finally the Tum-Tum shell was empty. The gryphon belched with satisfaction, before taking a walk around the clearing, screeching in an expectant manner.

"He is looking for the maker of the quadrille" said the Cat. He turned to Nick. "I think now would be the best time to make our prescence known to him, don't you?"

Nick nodded and he and the Cat made their way into the clearing. The gryphon turned and walked slowly towards them, soon it was close enough for Nick to stare into its sharp, yellow eyes. For a moment no one did anything, then the gryphon nudged Nick with its beak.

"H-hi. I'm the one who made the qu...quadrille" said Nick nervously.

"Do not sound so afraid" said the Cat. "You have earned his respect, he will not hurt you now. If you do not believe me then why don't you touch him?"

Nick looked at the gryphon, slowly he reached out his hand and brushed the sides of its beak. It felt unusually smooth, almost as if it were made of plastic. The gryphon did not respond, Nick stroked its beak again, and again, still there was no response.

"There, you see? He's not so bad now is he?" said the Cat. "Now you know each other, why don't you ask for his services?"

Filled with a new confidence, Nick spoke to the gryphon.

'We want to go to the queen of hearts' casino. Can you take us there, please?"

For a moment nothing happened and for a moment Nick thought that maybe the gryphon did not understand. Then it lay down on its belly and stretched out its wings.

"He has accepted your request" said the Cat. He descended to the ground and climbed on to the gryphon's back. Nick slid on behind him.

"Up" said the Cat to the gryphon. The creature rose to its feet, the Cat turned to Nick.

"Remind him of our destination." Nick cleared his throat.

"To the queen of hearts' casino!"

Instantly the gryphon screeched and reared up on its hind legs, almost throwing Nick and the Cat off. Then it leapt into the air and soon they were soaring out above the forest.

They were on their way to the casino.


	8. The Casino

On the ground, Wonderland had looked quite intimidating, with its looming trees and dark forest. But from up in the air it was magnificent. The carpet of trees flashed below Nick as if it were on a conveyor belt, the wind rushing off the gryphon's wings ruffled his hair and the feel of it on his face made him want to cry out with joy. He had been on planes and roller-coasters before but they didn't come anywhere near the thrills Nick felt from riding the gryphon. He almost felt as if he could flap his arms and fly for himself.

"Enjoying the trip, Nicholas?" said the Cat.

"Yes!" cried Nick in sheer glee. "This is the best fun I've ever had! I'm so glad you decided to fly a gryphon to the casino!" The Cat grinned very wide.

"You remind me a lot of your parents, back when they had you. They were always so happy and cheerful."

"You knew them back then?"

"Not strictly speaking" replied the Cat. "I was always invisible so they didn't know me. But on my trips to your world I regularly saw them." He saw that his words were dimming Nick's spirits, the boy was looking down at the forest below in a way that was somewhat less happy than he had just been. Guiltily he said to him "You are troubled by your father, aren't you?"

"Its just about what happened back in my world. He seemed to be completely in love with that girl, that Alice. It just makes me wonder if he really did love my mum, or if so does he still do? Does he still love me?" He felt the Cat brush up against him comfortingly.

"Nicholas. I think there is more than that which has caused you to think such thoughts. So let me telll you first of all that I am extremely sorry if anything I said just now contributed to the way you are feeling in any way. Secondly, if there's one thing you should always remember long after this mission is over, it's this: Your mother and father loved each other very, very much. I have not seen many humans in a relationship but I can tell you now that if there was ever an example of true love it's the relationship your parents had with each other, and with you. As for your question as to whether or not your father still loves your mother, the answer is yes. Though he may not realise it, there is a part of him that still does and always will love your mother, Nick. A part of him that no amount of elixir could wipe from his memory."

Nick smiled and stroked the Cat on the head.

"Thanks, you've really made me feel better."

"That's good to know" said the Cat. "Now let's put these unpleasant thoughts out of our minds. We have so much more to focus on."

* * *

It was nighttime when they arrived at the Wonderland city. It looked very different from the forest. It was completely dominated by concrete buildings and cars. The fumes wafting up from various vehicles practically choked Nick and the gryphon had to fly higher to avoid being spotted by the myriad of street lamps that lit up the city.

Finally though, they left the city behind and found themselves flying over dark, empty, never-ending plains. Finally though, the gryphon swooped down and landed in the midst of what looked for all the world like a ruined castle, with its ominous, looming, ruins. The noticeable difference being that they all seemed to be made of not stone, but giant playing cards. Nick hopped down from the gryphon and looked around at the place he was in. The Cat's head hovered in mid air next to him.

"This is it, Nick. This is the casino."

"This is the queen of hearts' casino?" said Nick disbelievingly. "It looks more like Stonehenge."

"Well it does now" said the Cat. "We have your father and Alice to thank for that. As you can see nobody has ever tried to rebuild it, the queen can't do it, she's been deposed."

"But where's this potion that we're looking for?" asked Nick. "The queen must have kept it somewhere, but where?"

"You're standing on it" said the Cat, gesturing to the floor. Nick looked down to see he was standing on a dust covered trapdoor. He bent down and taking the rusty handle in his hand, pulled hard. The trapdor opened to reveal a long, spiral staircase, going down into the darkness. Nick turned to the gryphon and signalled for it to stay where it was. Then he began to lower himself down the trapdoor.

"Be careful, Nicholas" said the Cat. "The queen of hearts had many who were loyal to her, some still inhabit the dark places below the casino, where they constantly plot ways to continue the queen's work. They will not tolerate an intruder in their midst."

Nick looked down the staircase, wondering if any such people might be hiding in the shadows below him, and for a moment he was tempted to get back on the gryphon's back and fly as far away from this place as possible. But he kept control of himself, he was here for a reason and he would not leave until he had the potion. Slowly he lowered himself on to the first step, the Cat followed.

As he descended the staircase, Nick found himself being plunged into pitch blackness, the only light came from the moonlight high above his head, which he could not help but look up at every now and then in order to keep his composure. At last he came to the foot of the staircase. As his eyes became adjusted to the darkness, he saw the Cat's head floating in front of him.

"Do you mind being whole?" said Nick. "I'm a little edgy right now and seeing a dismemebered head, it kinda freaks me out a little, even if it is only you."

"Very well then" said the Cat as his body appeared. "We are now about to enter the place where the potion is kept, it is just through this door." He floated over to what looked like the doors of a lift, with a small dial on the wall next to it.

"To enter this room one needs to turn to certain numbers on this dial" said the Cat. "I can tell you now that the code is 6-4-0-2-5-1."

Nick went up to the dial and turned it to the right numbers. Instantly the door opened with a hissing sound and Nick got the shock of his life.

Standing in the doorway was a shadowy, hunchbacked figure, his huge hand reaching for Nick and the Cat.


	9. The Mock Turtle

Nick could not keep quiet at this. He screamed loudly and backed away from the figure. Nick wasn't scared by much and had it been his Uncle Jack playing a trick on him he would almost certainly have fought back, but this was too much to take. This shadowy figure reminded him of the times when he was four years old and would wake up screaming after a nightmare, crying out for his parents, both of them. And in the time it took for Abby to arrive Nick would always feel so afraid sitting there in the darkness, much like he felt now.

"St-stay back" he said as the hunchbacked figure drew closer. Whoever the person was they did not obey, instead they kept coming forward, and Nick kept backing away. Suddenly he felt the staircase pressing against the back of his legs, he fell backwards and landed on it. His back erupted in pain in multiple places. Still the hunchback kept coming. Nick closed his eyes and waited for something horrible to happen to him.

Instead he heard the sound of a switch being turned on, and he felt light on his closed eyelids.

"Well, well, well" said a melodious, Geordie accent. "This certainly is something new, a boy and a floating cat at the entrance to the lab, I've never seen the like."

Nick opened his eyes. True to his guess, the room was now completely filled with light. The Cat was floating directly above him grinning at the hunchback over by the wall. Now that there was light, Nick could see a curving back with two large, almost flipper-like hands. The hunchback was bald and looked very intimidating, but his face was kindly and looking at it, Nick felt that the man meant him no harm.

"Now what would you two young whippersnappers be doing down here?" asked the hunchback.

"We might ask you the same thing" said the Cat. "Who are you?"

"I work here, in the lab" said the hunchback. "My name is Mark Terrence, but that's not what the other people who work here call me." He sighed and looked down at the ground in a melancholy way.

"What do they call you?" asked the Cat. Mark looked up at him.

"They call me...Mock Turtle."

"Why do they call you that?" asked Nick, his fear of Mark now replaced with an ever growing sympathy. Mark pointed at his hunch.

"You see this? As far as other people are concerned it looks remarkably like a turtle's shell. And these..." He held up one of his large hands, which looked almost too big for his body. "They look like great big flippers to them." And he burst into tears and ran his hand across his eyes in a way that reminded Nick a lot of the character his cruel nickname was based on.

"I'm so sorry to hear that" said Nick sympathetically. Mark held up his hand.

"It's alright" he said, wiping away his tears. "But you still haven't answered my question. Why are you down here?"

"We are here on a mission involving a concoction of your former mistress" said the Cat. "The queen of hearts." Mark shrank back.

"She was no mistress of mine" he said. "She was the mistress of my masters, Messrs Frog and Fish."

"Then she was still your mistress" said Nick. "If she was the mistress of your masters then she was in turn your mistress."

At hearing this, Mark burst tears once again.

"Oh dear me, the thought that all this time I was serving that monster. Oh dear, dear!"

"The point is" said the Cat, "is that we are here to claim that concoction I spoke of." Mark turned to him.

"Which one do you mean?"

"I mean the one that was created with the intent of restoring the memories of those oysters affected by the elixir" said the Cat. "As I understand it that was not an intentional potion and so it also the only one of its kind."

"Aye that be the truth" said Mark. "That potion was created by members of the Wonderland resistance who had infiltrated the laboratory." He gestured to the room from which he had come. "The queen was mighty angry when she found out, had their heads chopped off and all. Why is it so important to you?"

The Cat pointed to Nick. "His father was part of the resistance, the Hatter to be exact, and more besides. He was an oyster stolen from his world by Mad March. This boy here is his son, and we intend to get that potion and use it to restore Hatter's memory." Mark looked at Nick with astonishment.

"A real life oyster" he gasped. "My first one, why I'd heard such terrible stories of the treatment bestowed on your people by the queen. I'd be glad to help you, but I am bound to this lab by an oath to my masters. if they were to discover my treachery I....they'd do terrible things to me. Things second only to Doctors Dee and Dum's treatments. I cannot help you, I want to but I can't." He began to shuffle back to the lab. Nick followed him.

"Mark look, how about this. If you help me find the potion that will get my dad back. I promise I'll help you escape this place." Mark laughed dismissively.

"That's a kind thought indeed, but you are only young and my masters are dangerous people."

"I don't care" declared Nick. "I will help you get out of here, but I need you to help me find the potion." Mark rubbed his chin thoughtfully with one of his large hands.

"Very well then, if you're sure you can help me, then I will help you find that potion. I know exactly where it is kept."

"Thanks, Mark" said Nick gratefully as he followed the hunchback into the lab. The Cat floated close behind.

* * *

The laboratory proved to be a very sinister place. Everywhere Nick looked there were tables littered with bunsen burners, dirty, empty beakers and dissected mice and white rabbits. The whole lab stank of chemical fumes.

"As you can see my masters don't clean up after themselves a lot. They usually leave me to do that" said Mark. "If you can release me it'll let me off a hell of a lot of work. The potion's just through there." He pointed to a door down a the far end of the corridor. As they reached it he reached into his pocket and took out a small, rusty key. A few turns later and the door swung open to reveal a room quite different to any others Nick had seen in Wonderland.

It was circular and filled with shelf upon shelf of potions, so many that it would have taken Nick years to go through them all. A single window let in a beam of moonlight, which shone like a spotlight at the pedestal in the centre of the room. On the pedestal stood a spray bottle filled with a transluscent, turquoise liquid. Nick went up to it and looked at it for a moment, then he turned back to Mark and the Cat.

"Is this it, is this the potion?" They both nodded. Nick reached for the bottle and picked it up. As he did so the potion seemed to sparkle in the moonlight enveloping the spray bottle.

'This potion' thought Nick, 'is going to bring my family back together again."

Suddenly he heard Mark scream and the Cat hiss, and then the sound of gun triggers being cocked.

"Put that back" snarled a deep voice. "Now!"


	10. Frog and Fish

Nick turned to see two men standing in the doorway, both pointing guns at him and his companions.

"I said put that potion back!" snapped the man who had spoken in his deep, baritone voice. The second man meanwhile glared at Mark.

"Did you allow theshe intudersh into our lab, Mock Turtle?" he lisped. Mark broke down into tears.

"A thousand apologies, Master Fish" he sobbed.

"Punishment for you later, Mock Turtle" said the first man. He turned back to Nick. "But first, a few questions need to be asked. What are you doing here, young man?"

"Our business here is of no concern to you villains" said the Cat. "Who are you by the way, followers of the queen of hearts no doubt?"

"Anything to do with that potion is our concern" said the man. "But to answer your question, my name is Professor Frog. This here is my partner, Professor Fish!"

He gestured to the man standing next to him. Looking at the two men, Nick felt that their names were very approriate for them. Frog had large, pale eyes and a mouth that seemed to practically stretch from one end of his face to the other, as well as very long fingers like a tree-frog's. Fish had very large, puffy lips, mottle, almost scaly looking skin, and a short, mohican haircut that looked an awful lot like a fin. Both men were sweating a lot, giving their skin an unpleasant, slimy texture.

"Enough about ush" lisped Fish. He pointed at the potion in Nick's hand. "What are you doing with our potion?"

"Why is it so important to you?" demanded Nick. "You've got lots of potions in this lab."

"Not potions like that one!" said Frog. "That potion is the only one of its kind in existence. It was made by the Wonderland resistance, only they have the recipe for it. That potion is going to make me and my partner a lot of money."

"For what purpose?" said the Cat. "To continue your old mistress' work, no doubt?" Frog licked his lips with a long tongue.

"I suppose it won't hurt to tell you, you won't live to tell anyone else" he croaked. "Fish and I have been operating this underground lab since before the queen of hearts' downfall. We were the ones who created the elixir that drained the oyster's emotions and we were the ones who supplied them to the Hatter. When the queen fell, we realised that our life's work lay in carrying on her work, and rebuilding the casino. For two years now we've been selling our potions to Wonderland's criminal underworld. You'd be amazed how much potions bring in on the black market."

"But it ishn't enough" lisped Fish. "We are sho closhe to getting the right amount of money we need to rebuild the casino, and the quickesht way for us to get it ish to sell that potion. Shomething like that will fetch a big prishe."

"Fascinating" said the Cat. "Unfortunately your get rich quick scheme is going to have to go through something of a hiatus." He floated over to Nick. "You may be aware that the Hatter you supplied the elixir to was an oyster. Well he has now returned to his world, but remembers nothing of before he came to Wonderland. Back then he had a wife, and together they have a son." He pointed at Nick. "I have watched this boy and his mother go through nine long years of misery, and now we are here to end that. Like it or not Professors, we are taking this potion back to the oyster's world, and we shall use it to restore Hatter's memory."

Frog threw back his head and roared with laughter, it echoed around the lab, making a sound that reminded Nick a lot of a real frog croaking.

"You won't even get out of this room alive" said Frog. "Never mind to the oyster's world." He cocked his gun. Nick bolted for the window just as the gun was fired.

Instantly, all hell broke loose. Seeing their target trying to escape with their potion, Frog and Fish let off a spray of bullets. They ricocheted off the bullet proof glass, Nick stepped back from them but even so, one bullet managed to put a small cut just below his eye. Ignoring the pain, he ducked behind a nearby shelf. Frog and Fish roared with laughter.

"You can't hide behind there!" sneered Frog. There came the sound of footsteps as he and Fish made their way over to where Nick was. The Cat's head appeared in mid air before him.

"What do I do now?" asked Nick in a panicked voice.

"You are in a potions lab, Nicholas" said the Cat. "Use the potions to your advantage." Behind him, Mark came toddling up.

"What kind of potions do we have here, Mark?" asked Nick frantically. Mark looked around at the shelves around him. Finally he picked up a small phial filled with a cloudy, crimson liquid.

"Throw this at the ground in front of them" he said. "It'll hold them off a little longer."

Nick took the phial and peeked around the shelf he was hiding behind. He saw Frog and Fish aiming their guns at him.

"You've got a cute face, kid" said Frog. "Too bad Fish and I have gotta pump bullets into it."

Nick threw the phial down at their feet. Instantly it smashed and released a wall of thick, crimson fog, completely obliterating the two men from sight. Nick turned back to Mark.

"Anything else?"

"I'm working on it" said Mark as he scanned the shelves for more useful potions. Nick joined the search, picking various bottle and jars off the shelves and examining their contents to see if they would be useful. There was Chicken Pox ointment, toadstool flax, beauty brew, and countless others.

Nick took another bottle off the shelf. Before he had time to read the label on it however, he was grabbed violently by the arm. The next thing he saw was the barrel of Frog's gun pointing at his face.

"This has gone far enough, kid" he snarled. "Sorry to disrupt your plans for a long life." Nick closed his eyes and waited for the bullet to hit him.

Instead he heard Frog screaming with horror. Nick opened his eyes to see that part of the man's sleeve was on fire, he was hopping around and frantically beating at it in the hopes of putting it out. The broken glass on the floor told Nick that Mark had thrown the potion. Fish glared at Mark.

"How dare you attack your mashters, Mock Turtle!" He aimed his gun at the hunchback. Now it was Nick's turn to save Mark's life.

"Oi, trout-face!" he shouted. Fish turned in Nick's direction to recieve a faceful of potion from the bottle Nick had picked off the shelf. It went straight into his mouth. He fell to the floor, gagging and spluttering. As he did so, blue smoke began to spill out of his mouth, ears and nose, enveloping him. Then a bright light shone from the smoke and Nick was forced to cover his eyes with the spray bottle. Finally the light and the smoke disappeared. In their place lay Fish, a man no longer, but a real fish, gasping and flapping about on the floor. The Cat pounced on him and bit down on his head. Soon, Fish was disappearing down his throat, he belched contentedly.

"Good work, Nicholas. I've always been rather fond of pilchard."

Wasting no time, Nick grabbed Mark by the hand and hurried out past Frog, the Cat floating behind. They ran back along the corridor and then back up the spiral staircase to the trapdoor. Nick breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the gryphon still waiting for them. He hurried over to it and mounted, Mark and the Cat got on behind him.

"Take us back to the door, fast as you can!" cried Nick. The gryphon shrieked and launched itself into the air, flying off towards the sunrise.


	11. Back to the Door

At least an hour had passed now since they had left the ruins of the casino. Now they had reached the fringes of the Wonderland forest. Nick turned to Mark.

"Thanks for helping me get this, Mark. I don't know how I could have done it without you." Mark smiled half heartedly.

"What's wrong?" asked Nick. "You're not working in the lab anymore, you're free. Just like I promised you would be."

"That's what I'm worried about" said Mark. "Whether or not I am truely free. Fish may be in the stomach of the Cat, but Frog is still out there. I'm worried he will try and hunt me down and punish me for helping you." Nick placed his hand on Mark's shoulder.

"Mark, he's miles away below the casino, and we're in the air. What can he do?"

As if in answer to that a gunshot rang out. The gryphon shrieked and quickened its flying speed.

"Look Nicholas" said the Cat. "It appears our enemy has followed us!"

Nick peered out to the horizon. In the distance he could see something flying after them. As it drew closer, Nick could see that it was Frog, seated on a very unusual looking vehicle. It looked a little bit like on of those bouncy rides at the park, shaped like a flamingo. The main difference being that it was not attached to anything and it was flying. Underneath his arm, Frog had a rifle. The Cat turned to the gryphon.

"Come on, fly faster or he'll catch us up!"

"You won't escape with my potion, kid!" bellowed Frog. "You and your friends will die before you leave Wonderland! As for you, Mock Turtle, I'll clap you in chains the minute we get back to the lab"

"You see, this is what I was worried about" whimpered Mark as another shot rang out. Nick turned to the gryphon.

"Listen, do you think you can do anything to out manouvere him?"

For a while the gryphon did not respond, and for a moment, Nick thought that maybe all he could do was try and fly faster. Then suddenly the gryphon folded in its wings and plummeted down towards the trees. Frog's bullet soared right above them. The gryphon burst through the trees and then spread its wings once again. Here there was less space to fly straight, which mean the the gryphon was forced to make a series of sideways lurches in order to avoid crashing into trees. While this made for a very turbulent and somewhat nauseating ride, it did make it a lot harder for Frog to aim properly.

"We are almost at the door!" cried the Cat presently. Suddenly the gryphon shrieked and was sent crashing to the ground. Nick, Mark and the Cat were thrown off and sent tumbling through the leaf litter. As they came to a stop, Nick brushed the dead leaves out of his face. There in front of him was the tiny door he had entered Wonderland through.

"Wait here" said the Cat as he ran for the door. Just as he was about to slam into it he vanished. Nick meanwhile turned back to the gryphon and Mark. The hunchback was sitting down next to the gryphon and watching as it tried to lick a painful looking bullet wound.

"Are you ok, Mark?" asked Nick. Mark stood up.

"No" he growled. "I am not. This gryphon is without a doubt the most magnificent thing I have ever seen, and now Frog has scarred him. I shall not let such an injustice go unpunished."

"Nick!" came the Cat's voice. Nick turned to see his head floating in mid-air, in his mouth was the bottle Nick had used to shrink himself down. The Cat dropped it at his feet.

"Drink that and we shall be able to escape through the door and get back to your world!" Nick nodded understandingly and picked up the bottle. He turned to Mark and the gryphon.

"Not them" said the Cat. "Just you and me!" Nick looked at him incredulously.

"I can't leave them here, not after all they've done for me! You must understand that."

"I do" said the Cat. "And I thank both Mark and gryphon for their services. Alas they cannot come with us for two reasons. One is that there is only enough liquid in that bottle for one person, the second is that they are Wonderland residents. They were born in this world, and without the ability to evaporate as I do, they can never leave it."

"That's alright" said Mark. "Gryphon and I have business to attend to. Frog has caused both of us a grievance, and we must make him pay. Go through that door Nick, we shall hold him off. Give my best to your father!"

"Thank you" said Nick. He didn't know what else to say. Quickly, he handed over the potion to the Cat, since he would not be able to carry it once he was small. Then as Mark mounted the gryphon, Nick took the lid off the bottle of drink and swallowed the rest of the contents. Without waiting for the effects to take place, he walked the last few steps to the door. As he reached it, he turned to see Mark and the gryphon soaring up into the sky, the gryphon had its talons and beak aimed directly at Frog's flamingo. Then all too quickly Nick was tiny again. He pulled the handle of the door and walked through with the Cat back into the dimly lit room.

"Don't worry Nick" said the Cat. "I'm sure that Mark and the gryphon will be fine. Those who have been kept in painful servitude for as long as Mark was prove to be fine fighters when they time comes to rebel against their masters."

"You think?" said Nick.

"I know" said the Cat. He gestured to the light coming from the hole leading to Nick's world. "Shall we move on? You may want to climb on my head."

Nick did just that. The Cat picked up the potion in his mouth and his body disappeared. Then like a bubble rising from a bath, he floated up the hole with Nick to the other world.


	12. New York Again

As they rose out of the open manhole into the sunlit New York, Nick leapt down from the Cat's head on to the ground. The Cat dropped the potion in front of him and then sat down on the ground, whole again.

"I think now would be the best time for you to eat that mushroom."

Nick felt in his pocket and pulled out the mushroom he had eaten when he had first arrived in Wonderland. After taking two small bites of it he was back to his normal size. He picked up the spray bottle and looked at the Cat.

"Now what? Do we go to the drinks plant?"

"No" said the Cat. "Frog and Fish were formidable foes, but there is one more Wonderland related battle you must fight in order to regain your father. If you feel you are ready, I shall take you to the place where it must take place." He made his way out of the alleyway, Nick following close behind.

* * *

Anyone out on the streets of New York would almost certainly have been granted an unusual sight, a ten year old boy on his own with nothing but a spray bottle and a backpack following a cat. The Cat lead Nick through the busy streets, Nick was finding it hard to keep an eye on him amongst the hundreds of legs of walking people. Strangely enough nobody else seemed to even acknowledge that there was even a cat in their midst. Not even when he was out in the open crossing the road in the brief moment before it was swamped with people.

Finally the Cat sat down in front of an apartment building.

"Wait here" he said to Nick and he vanished once again. He returned a few minutes later grinning wider than ever.

"You may now enter." Nick pushed on the glass door of the building and was greeted by a muffled sneezing sound coming from a small cubicle at the far end of the lobby.

"What were you doing just now?" he asked the Cat.

"Fortunately for us the doorman is highly allergic to cat hair" said the Cat, swishing his bottle brush tail about. "All I needed was a few short moments of invisibility and levitation, he'll be in there for hours."

Nick grinned as he pressed the button on the lift and went in.

"Fifteenth floor" said the Cat. As the lift went up his body vanished and his head floated up to Nick's eye level.

"Before we continue any further Nicholas I must tell you this. Your next opponent is one you have crossed before. They will not be pleased to see you nor you them. But understand this, young Temple: in the midst of your hatred for them you must try to see reason and speak with them."

"Can't we do it together? We've always done things together on this adventure." The Cat shook his head.

"If necessary I will step in to lend a helping hand. But for the most part Nick, this is your task. You must do it alone."

And with that he vanished into thin air. Almost as if on cue the lift arrived at the fifteenth floor. Nick stepped out of it to find himself faced with two doors, A and B.

"Door A" whispered the Cat's voice. Nick sighed, at least the Cat was still there, and he knew he could trust him, even if this was something he had to do on his own. He took a deep breath and went up to Door A.

Before he could even ring the bell however, he heard a security chain being taken off and the door swung open.

'Something's not right' thought Nick. Nevertheless he continued on into the apartment. He found himself in a small living room with tiled floors, a leather sofa and several small chairs. It was completely silent but someone was probably at home seeing as the light was on. Nick heard a meow coming from the sofa, he turned to see a long haired cat lying on it. It looked a lot like the Cat except for the fact that its fur was white with the occasionaly black dot on it. It rose to its feet and stretched, before hissing angrily at Nick.

At that moment the door behind him slammed shut. Nick turned to see the person the Cat had been talking about, the person he had crossed once before, the person who was pulling the security chain across once again, imprisoning him in the apartment.

Alice.


	13. Alice

"You!" said Alice, pointing a trembling finger at Nick. "You came back. You thought you could steal my boyfriend away from me. Well I got here first! When I heard that elevator reach this floor I thought it might be David coming home early from work. But when I looked through the spyhole I saw it was you."

"Alice, first of all you were not with my dad first, my mum was" said Nick, trying to keep his cool. "And secondly-

"He is not your father!" screamed Alice. "His name is David Hatter and you are a deranged little kid with delusions of your dad. Well I can understand why he was never in your life, he probably saw what was coming and left while the going was good."

That did it. Nick took off his backpack and put the potion inside, then he hurled it on to the sofa, barely missing Alice's cat, which leapt off and ran into the kitchen. He went up to Alice as close as he dared.

"Do you kick-box, Alice?" he asked coldly.

"Even better" she retorted. "I do judo." She snatched a nearby vase and threw it into the air. As it came down she karate chopped the air in front of her. The vase was sliced cleanly in half before it smashed to pieces on the floor. Even the flowers inside were perfectly sliced.

"I'll give you a choice, kid. You can leave now and go to juvenile hall. Or you can stay and go to juvenile hall in pieces."

In response, Nick rushed up to Alice, leapt into the air and delivered a sharp kick to her chin. She smashed against the door and sank to the ground, before rising up once again, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"Let's finish this!" she hissed.

"Once and for all" said Nick. Alice thrust her fist forward, Nick leapt back to avoid it. As he did so he backed into the table. Looking up he saw Alice holding her fists above her head in the way an executioner will hold an axe before the fatal blow. Nick ducked underneath the table just as Alice brought her fists down. An ugly looking crack appeared in the table as she did so. Through it Nick saw Alice glaring down at him.

"You're a real homewrecker, Alice, do you know that?"

"Not for long" hissed Alice. "This fight will be over very quickly."

"Yes, it will" said Nick. He lay down on his side and thrust his legs out towards Alice's. She slipped and fell to the floor. Nick crawled out from under the table and was about to place his foot on her chest when she rolled out of the way and got back on her feet. Before Nick could react she had picked him up by the front of his shirt. She held him up to eye level, sheer hatred and anger burned out of her eyes. With an inhuman shriek she hurled him across the room on to the sofa, next to the backpack. Then she came rushing towards him.

But Nick was ready for her. As she came near him and reached out her arm he thrust his leg to the side of her face. He caught her just below her jaw and she fell flat on her face on the sofa next to the back pack.

"Nicholas" hissed the Cat's voice reprimandingly. "This is exactly what I told you not to do. You must reason with Alice, not fight her. You cannot get your father back through violence."

Nick watched as Alice rose from the sofa and wiped a smear of blood from her face. Then she saw Nick's backpack.

"Alice, listen-" Nick began. But before he could finish, Alice had opened the backpack and was rooting through it. She pulled out the spray bottle of potion and held it up to the light so she could read the label. Then she glared at Nick once again.

"You really are unbelievable" she snapped. "I can't believe that you are so stupid that you actually think this is going to turn my boyfriend into your imaginary dad."

"That's exactly what it will do" said Nick. "I went all the way to Wonderland and back to get that potion. I've been shrunk, chased by a gryphon, shot at by a pair of mad scientists and almost killed multiple times for that potion. Do you think I would do all that if it was worthless?"

The angry look on Alice's face disappeared and was replaced with a blank, vacant one that made Nick uneasy.

"Wonderland?" she said. "That's a story in a kid's book."

"And you should know" said Nick. "Because you went there yourself!" He took a deep breath before resuming in a softer, calmer voice. " I'm glad you got my dad out of there, but now I've got to take him back with me."

"No" screamed Alice. She stood up and threw the bottle across the room. It landed on the floor in front of the door, the lid came off and spilled the potion out in a puddle.

"No!" cried Nick. He burst from the sofa but was pushed back down by Alice.

"Listen kid, this has gone far enough. I am calling the police right now and I will make sure you never get out of juvenile hall, ever! You will never come near my boyfriend again!"

At this point Nick did something he would not have even dreamed of doing had everything not gone so completely wrong. He burst into tears. Everything was ruined now. The potion was gone, Alice had defeated him and now not only would he never get his dad back but now he was also going to go to jail. He had broken into Alice's home and physically hurt her, she had the perfect excuse to get him locked away. He would never see his mum or his home or any of his pets ever again for the rest of his life. Finally though he managed to get some speech in.

"Alice, please. I'm begging you, don't do this. I came all this way, spent all the money I had for this. I went to Wonderland and went through so much for this. I know you don't want to give my dad up and I can tell you want to keep him, and I know he's your boyfriend." He paused for a moment before going on. "But he's also my dad."

Alice loosened her grip on Nick, the angry look on her face began to disappear. This was not Walrus, this was not Mad March, this was a ten year old boy, a child who had already gone through so much just to get his family back together again, such as it probably was. But even so she found it hard to accept what he wanted.

"You...you don't know that he's your dad. Not for sure."

"Did that stop you from trying to bring your father home, Alice?" came a voice that Nick recognised as the Cat's. Alice looked up to see the Cat's head appear in mid air right before her eyes.

"Alice Hamilton" he said. "We meet again, properly this time."

"You!" said Alice, pointing a finger at the Cat. "I saw you in Wonderland."

"Yes, it is I" said the Cat. "I saw everything that happened on your mission Alice, and like Nick here, I thank you for returning the so called Hatter to his real world, your one that is."

"You know this kid?"

"Oh yes" said the Cat. "For the past nine years I have been watching over him, ever since the day that Mad March first dragged Connor Temple through the looking glass into Wonderland."

Alice turned back to Nick.

"You...you called David...my boyfriend Connor Temple that night at the Red Queen."

"Yes, he did" said the Cat. "Because that is the name of his father, or as you call him, David Hatter. If you do not believe what I say, then we have something that will prove it." He went over to Nick's bag and gestured for him to open it, Nick reached into it and knew what it was he wanted to take out. It was a picture of his entire immediate family, taken just before Connor had disappeared. He showed it to Alice who gasped as she took it. Her face was a look of pure shock, Nick could see a tear welling in her left eye.

"I'm sorry, Alice" said Nick. "I know that you love my dad a lot, but so did my mum, and still does. And for the past nine years she has lived on her own, completely miserable without him. I have to bring him home, for her sake as well as mine."

"That's right" said the Cat. He floated up to Alice. "You lost your father Alice, do you really want to bestow that fate on a child who has a chance to get his back?"

"I...I can't...he's all I've got" stammered Alice.

"That is not true, Alice" said the Cat. "You have your mother still, and you have your cat. They can still keep you company, and one day soon you will find someone just as good as Hatter, perhaps even better. You are a good woman, Alice. That sort of quality will not be overlooked by the true love of your life."

Alice sat down on the sofa next to Nick, handing the photograph back to him she buried her face in her hands and began to sob. Nick wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I'm really sorry" he whispered softly.

Suddenly from outside there came a ding as the elevator arrived at the fifteenth floor. Alice wiped her tears away and looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Five thirty, David....I mean Connor is coming home right now."

"Time to fulfil your mission's first objective, Nick" said the Cat. Nick went over to the spilt bottle of potion. Fortunately it was only half empty. The other half of the potion had collected and there was enough of it still to spray.

"Just one spray in the face should do it" said the Cat. Nick screwed on the top of the bottle and stood in front of the door as it opened.

"Alice, I'm home" said Hatter as he entered the door. A look of shock appeared on his face as he saw Nick standing there.

"Hi, Dad" said Nick as he sprayed the potion in Hatter's face. A blank look appeared on Hatter's face and he stood completely still.

"His memory is returning to him" said the Cat. "I think it would be best if we got him out of here."

"I'll help" said Alice. Nick looked at her. "My car's parked just outside."


	14. Connor

Nick sat with his dad on a bench in Central Park. The Cat sat on the ground next to him, Alice stood next to Hatter.

It had been slightly diffiuclt moving Hatter/Connor here. Not only was the potion returning his memory to him, but it had also made him go quite stiff, trying to get him to walk in a convincing way had been like trying to move a corpse in rigor mortis. Getting him to sit down in Alice's car and on the bench had been even more difficult, but they had still managed it somehow. Nick looked up at Alice.

"Thank you, for helping us." Alice sighed and brushed Hatter/Connor's forehead.

"I used to know a guy before him, I thought he was perfect too. Then it turned out he'd been engaged to someone else all along. And then when I met David, I mean, Connor, I thought that maybe I had finally found Mr. Right." She turned to Nick. "But I can see now that in this case, your good is more important than mine."

"Well done, Alice" said the Cat. "I can assure you that you will find your Mr. Right soon enough."

"Look after him, Nick" said Alice. "He's a great guy"

"Thank you" said Nick. Alice gave one last look at Hatter/Connor, then she turned and walked off in the direction of her car. The Cat leapt up into Nick's lap.

"Farewell, Nicholas Temple" he said.

"You're leaving?" said Nick.

"Yes, Nick" said the Cat. "You have found your father, you no longer need me and neither does he."

"What do you mean?"

"When Alice gets home she will find Hatter's will, leaving his entire business to her. She will take over the drink's plant and do quite well for herself. As for you, you will return home to England, your father has money in his pocket and I also took the liberty of bringing this along."

Out of nowhere he produced a small book.

"His passport" said the Cat. "You will both be able to go home. And as for me, I must return to my world. Here in Central Park, comes the end of our union." Nick stroked the Cat between the ears, tears began to well in his eyes.

"There is no need to weep for me, Nick" said the Cat. "For whilst our union is over, our frienship will never be. And I am never hard to find. Take out Alice in Wonderland."

Nick reached into his backpack and took out the said book. The Cat flicked through the pages once more until he came to the page with the original Alice looking up into a tree. He pointed at a picture of the grinning cheshire cat sitting in it.

"Whenever you read this book, I will be just here" he said.

"There's one thing I don't understand" said Nick. "Back in Wonderland, you told me that my family had a history of facing dangerous creatures, what did you mean by that?" The Cat grinned even wider.

"That is not for me to tell you about, Nicholas. One day you will discover it for yourself. You can't rely on a talking, grinning cat for your whole life, you know." Nick smiled, the Cat grinned back and his tail disappeared into thin air. It was followed by his back legs, then his body, and then his front legs. Nick realised that now was his last chance to say thank you.

"Thanks, Cat. For everything."

"Cat?" said the Cat, now only a head floating in mid air. "Is that what you thought my name was all this time? Oh no, Nick." He grinned even wider just as his ears were disappearing.

"My name is Cheshire!" And his face disappeared, followed by his nose, and eyes, until only the grin was left. It stayed for some time afterwards, but soon, it too disappeared.

A tired groan came from next to Nick. He turned to see his dad sitting up on the bench, a tired look on his face.

"Where...where am I?"

"Dad, it's you" said Nick. Connor turned to him, for a moment he was silent. Then his brown eyes widened in astonishment.

"Nick, is that you?"

Nick burst into laughter and hugged his dad, Connor hugged him back.

"My god, you've gotten so big. You were just a baby when I last saw you and your mum. My god, Abby! How is she, where are we anyway?"

"We're in New York, Dad. Long story, I'll tell you on the plane home."


	15. Getting the Family back from Wonderland

Abby paced up and down the living room of the flat. It was four days now since Nick had gone missing, four days since she had woken up and found his note taped to the fridge. Since then she had been going out of her mind with worry. The police had been apologetic, saying that since Nick was in the USA, they could do nothing about it. So Abby had turned to Lester for help. Lester had got into contact with some Secretary of State friends of his, however, none of them had been able to locate Nick. Abby had not felt so worried and afraid since Connor had disappeared nine years ago. The worst of it was was that not only did she have no idea as to whether or not her son was alive, but it seemed like he had vanished off the face of the earth.

Suddenly Rex swooped down on to the windowsil and started chirping excitedly. Abby went over to the window and peered through the curtains. She could see a London taxi parked outside, with two figures sat inside of it, one much taller than the other. The shorter one opened the door and dropped a suitcase on to the pavement. Then it got out to reveal...Nick!

Abby gasped with shock and relief. She dashed to the front door, yanked it open and pulled Nick into a crushing embrace just as he was coming up the stairs to the flat. Tears of joy ran down Abby's face and into her son's hair.

"Nick, oh my god, you're ok. Where have you been? My mind was full of awful things that could have happened to you. I was so worried!"

"It is good to be home, Mum" said Nick. Abby released her son and crouched down to his level.

"Don't you ever run away from home like that again, Nick"

"I won't. I'm sorry Mum, but while I was away I...

"Hello Abs" came a voice from the doorway. Abby's eyes opened wide, she had not heard that voice for nine years and she didn't dare believe that she was actually hearing it again. Nevertheless she looked up from Nick to see Connor Temple, her husband, standing in the doorway. He was wearing a brown suit and his hair was a little longer than when she had last seen him. But it was undoubtedly him.

"C-Connor? Is it really...you?" Connor held his arms out wide.

"Yes, its me, love." For a moment both Mr and Mrs. Temple stood where they were, stock still. Then Abby dashed past Nick and threw herself into Connor's arms. Tears of sheer happiness trickled down her face and into Connor's chest. Connor for his part looked down at her and smiled with the same happiness, and love for the wife he had not seen for the past nine years. He stroked Abby's hair, she looked back up at him, and then they both leant forwards and kissed. They stayed in that position for several long minutes afterwards.

Nick watched with indescribeable happiness in his heart. At last, after nine long years of loneliness and seperation for both of his parents, here they were at last. Reunited with love. He knew that it would be a while before he could sit down and explain to both of them what had happened in their absences, and in his. For now though he simply turned and stroked Sid and Nancy as they came scurrying up to him. It felt good to be home.

As Sid and Nancy went off to greet Connor, Nick thought he could see something in the mirror at the far end of the room. He went up to it and smiled at what he saw. Staring out of the mirror at him, barely visible but very much there nonetheless, was Cheshire. Cheshire the Cat. Only his face was visible, but it was grinning widely at Nick. Cheshire winked at him and then slowly disappeared again. Nick smiled at the mirror where the cheshire cat had been, and then he turned and went to embrace both of his parents. Sid and Nancy scurried around Connor's ankles like excited puppies, and Rex circled above their heads.

At last, the Temple family was whole again.


End file.
